Naval Support Facility Thurmont By State Naval Support Facility Thurmont Located 70 miles from the White House in the Catoctin Mountains of Maryland, NSF Thurmont also known as Camp David was established in 1942 as a place for the President to relax and entertain. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt wanted to escape the summer heat of Washington, D.C., and the higher altitude of the Camp provided cool breezes and good security. President Roosevelt called the Camp “Shangri-La” after the mountain kingdom in James Hilton’s book Lost Horizon. It was renamed Camp David in 1953 by President Eisenhower in honor of his grandson. View Larger Map The Camp is operated by Navy personnel, and troops from the Marine Barracks in Washington, D.C., provide permanent security. Marine One carries the President during the half-hour helicopter ride from our Nation’s capital. Guests at Camp David can enjoy a pool, putting green, driving range, tennis courts, gymnasium, and the many guest cabins — Dogwood, Maple, Holly, Birch, and Rosebud, to name a few. The presidential cabin is called Aspen Lodge. Camp David has been the site of many historic international meetings.

It was there, during World War II, that President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill planned the Allies’ invasion of Europe. Many historical events have occurred at the Presidential Retreat; the planning of the Normandy invasion, Eisenhower-Khrushchev meetings, discussions of the Bay of Pigs, Vietnam War discussions, and many other meetings with foreign dignitaries and guests. President Jimmy Carter chose the site for the meeting of Middle East leaders that led to the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt. Camp David continues to serve as the Presidential Retreat. It is a private, secluded place for recreation, contemplation, rest, and relaxation. Maintaining the privacy and secluded atmosphere of the retreat is an important role for Catoctin Mountain Park. The Presidential Retreat still remains within park boundaries but is not open to the public. It is a place where presidents can relax, unwind, contemplate, entertain distinguished guests in an informal setting, and cope with the pressures of modern day society. The Presidential retreat is not open or accessible to the public, but the eastern hardwood forest of Catoctin Mountain Park has many other attractions for visitors: camping, picnicking, fishing, 25 miles of hiking trails, scenic mountain vistas, all await exploration.

Catoctin Mountain Park was originally submarginal land purchased by the government in 1936, to be developed into a recreational facility. The facility was to demonstrate how rough terrain and eroded soil could be turned into productive land again. The New Deal’s Works Progress Administration, WPA, began the work in the newly created Catoctin Recreational Demonstration Area, joined by the Civilian Conservation Crops, CCC, in 1939. Camp Misty Mount was first used by the Maryland League for Crippled Children. After the first year, the League moved to a second camp in 1938, Camp Greentop, because Camp Misty Mount’s terrain was difficult to negotiate in a wheelchair. A third camp, Camp Hi-Catoctin, was completed in the winter of 1938-1939 and was used for three years as a family camp for federal employees. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was accustomed to seeking relief from hot Washington, D.C. summers and relaxing on weekends, aboard the presidential yacht “Potomac” or at Hyde Park, NY. In 1942 the U.S.

Secret Service were very concerned about the President’s continued use of the “Potomac.” World War II had brought an attack on Pearl Harbor and German U boats close in Atlantic waters. Presidential safety was a concern and Presidential health was also a concern. The muggy climate of Washington, D.C., was considered detrimental to his health, affecting his sinuses. A new retreat, a place to relax, within a 100 mile radius of Washington, D.C. and in the cool mountain air was sought. Several sites were considered but Camp Hi-Catoctin in the Catoctin Recreational Demonstration Area was selected after the President’s first visit on April 22, 1942. A camp was already built on the site and the estimated conversion cost was $18,650. It was also almost 10 degrees cooler than Washington. The camp for federal employee’s families became the camp of one federal employee, the President of the United States. Roosevelt quickly renamed the camp to “Shangri-La” from James Hilton’s 1933 novel, Lost Horizon. At the close of World War II, there was some debate over the future of Shangri-La.

Should it be returned to the National Park Service? Should it be maintained as a national shrine or monument? Should it be transferred to the Maryland State Forest and Park System as was the original plan of the demonstration area? In 1952 Truman approved a compromise under which the land north of Maryland Route 77 would remain Catoctin Mountain Park operated by the National Park Service and the land south of Maryland Route 77 would become Cunningham Falls State Park. The official transfer took effect in 1954. President Eisenhower renamed the retreat, after he took office in 1953, “Camp David,” after his grandson. Naval Support Facility Thurmont - definition of Naval Support Facility Thurmont by The Free Dictionary Naval Support Facility Thurmont - definition of Naval Support Facility Thurmont by The Free Dictionary Also found in: Encyclopedia , Wikipedia . Related to Naval Support Facility Thurmont: NSF Thurmont Camp David A presidential retreat on Catoctin Mountain in northern Maryland north-northwest of Washington, DC. It was established by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1942 as Shangri-La. Dwight D. Eisenhower renamed it Camp David in honor of his grandson.

Camp David (ˈdeɪvɪd) n (Placename) the US president's retreat in the Appalachian Mountains, Maryland: scene of the Camp David Agreement (Sept, 1978) between Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Menachem Begin of Israel, mediated by Jimmy Carter, which outlined a framework for establishing peace in the Middle East. This agreement was the basis of the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt signed in Washington (March, 1979) Camp` Da′vid Camp David | whitehouse.gov Air Force One Camp David To every President since Franklin Roosevelt, Camp David has offered solitude, tranquility, and a place to host foreign leaders. Camp David, known formally as the Naval Support Facility Thurmont, is the President’s country residence. Located in Catoctin Mountain Park in Frederick County, Maryland, Camp David has offered Presidents an opportunity for solitude and tranquility, as well as an ideal place to host foreign leaders. Adapted from the federal employee retreat Hi-Catoctin, President Franklin Roosevelt established the residence as USS Shangri La, modeling the new main lodge after the Roosevelt winter vacation home in Warm Springs, Georgia. President Eisenhower subsequently renamed the institution in honor of his grandson David.

Camp David has been used extensively to host foreign dignitaries. Prime Minister Winston Churchill of Great Britain attended the first such meeting in May of 1943; the summit held at the residence in 1978 for Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin resulted in what are now known as the Camp David Accords. Camp David - The George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum The President & Family Camp David The Presidential retreat Camp David is located in Maryland’s Catoctin Mountains, in close proximity to Washington, D.C. by helicopter. The retreat, more formally known as Naval Support Facility Thurmont, is an active naval base staffed by Marine and Navy personnel. The site comprises 180 acres with multiple cabins for the President, his family, and their guests. Military personnel protect their covers during the arrival of President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea and Mrs. Kim Yoon-ok at Camp David, April 18, 2008, in Thurmont, Maryland. Courtesy George W.

Bush Presidential Library and Museum (P041808JB-0018) Shangri-la, as the retreat was dubbed by Franklin Roosevelt, was originally a boys and girls camp built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, one of the many federal programs devised to combat the Great Depression. With American entry into World War II, security concerns over FDR’s Potomac River cruises led to the establishment of Shangri-la in 1942 as an alternative locale for Presidential recreation. Dwight Eisenhower later renamed the retreat after his grandson, David. For half a century, subsequent Presidents and their families have appreciated the beauty of the site and the opportunity for relaxation it provides them to escape Washington for weekends and holidays. Camp David has been used multiple times to host visiting heads of state in a more casual manner than the White House affords. In her memoirs, Laura Bush recalled, “Entertaining at a place like Camp David…was far more relaxed and casual. A visit to Camp David is more like a visit to someone’s weekend place.

And it cements a different friendship than simply having a fancy event amid gleaming silver and glittering chandeliers.” Far more than serving a recreational or even a casual ceremonial function, Camp David has also been the site of Presidential diplomacy. President Eisenhower conducted negotiations there with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev over reducing Cold War tensions. During his 1959 visit, Khrushchev was also shown the camp’s bowling alley; although it was the first time he had seen the game, the Soviet leader was reportedly more impressed with the automatic pin-setting machine. Richard Nixon likewise hosted his Soviet counterpart, Leonid Brezhnev, at Camp David in 1973. Having been presented with a new car as an official gift, Brezhnev insisted that Nixon join him for a test drive. What followed must have been harrowing for Nixon, as Brezhnev sped down the winding, one-lane camp roads in excess of fifty miles an hour. Coming down a steep slope and hitting the brakes, Brezhnev marveled at the car’s abilities.

Grateful that they had not injured either themselves or anybody unfortunate enough to have been on the road, Nixon later wrote, “Diplomacy is not always an easy art.” Arguably the most famous Presidential activity connected to Camp David was the series of negotiations hosted by President Jimmy Carter in 1978 between Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. Over the course of several days, Carter met with the two leaders and the three hammered out an agreement providing for peace between Egypt and Israel. Known ever after as the Camp David Accords, the agreement was also seen as a first step toward an overall settlement of Middle East disputes, and it was the greatest foreign policy triumph of Carter’s Presidency. Bibliography Laura Bush, Spoken from the Heart (New York: Scribner, 2010). Doris Kearns Goodwin, No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front and World War II (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994).

Peter Carlson, K Blows Top: A Cold War Comic Interlude, Starring Nikita Khrushchev, America’s Most Unlikely Tourist (New York: PublicAffairs, 2009). Richard Nixon, RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon (New York: Touchstone, 1978). Camp David Presidential Retreat Camp David Presidential Retreat By: Craig Shipp Location: Thurmont, Maryland, Fredrick County, USA A presidential retreat in the Catoctin Mountains of northern Maryland north-northwest of Washington, D.C. It was established by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1942 as Shangri-La. Dwight D. Eisenhower renamed it Camp David in honor of his grandson. Camp David is a Presidential weekend retreat in Maryland 's Catoctin Mountains. Originally a military base, it was turned over to the White House during the Great Depression and was named Shangri-La by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. President Dwight Eisenhower renamed it Camp David for his grandson David. It consists of 180 forested acres, protected by a ring of three fences and marine guard patrols.

It is maintained by 150 naval personnel and, when the President is in residence, by 250 other support staff. It contains a number of residence cabins for the President and his guests, who often include foreign heads of state. Camp David also has a heated pool, skeet range, tennis courts, and horseshoe pit. It has a conference center where administration officials can meet with the President when he is on a “working vacation.” Expenses for Camp David are part of the Navy Department budget. Click Here for a full-screen slideshow (many photos)! Camp David (or Naval Support Facility Thurmont) is a United States Navy installation. The Camp is commanded by an O-5 (Commander's Rank.) Sailors are mostly Seabees and most officers are in the civil engineering field. The Navy Seabee Detachment does maintenance and beautification. The sailors must attain " Yankee White " security clearance, the highest level clearance in the Department of Defense (DOD). The sailors are hand picked for their service at Camp David and represent the best of the U.S. Navy. Some of the sailors include: grounds and maintenance personnel, electricians, carpenters, corpsman, and the President's cooks (mess specialists).

Click the play arrow below to start a Camp David photo slide show: Video Channel - Presidential History of Frederick County including Camp David: Video clips include Mark Hudson of the Historical Society of Frederick County at the Thurmont Regional Library . The Camp is alleged to be one of the most secure facilities in the world, as reported by a Department of Defense journal in 1998 . The Facility is guarded by one of the United States Marine Corps ' most elite units, MSC-CD (Marine Security Company, Camp David). Each Marine is hand picked from the infantry and sent through a battery of psychological and physical tests. He then must undergo specialized security training at the Marine Corps Security Forces School , in Chesapeake, Virginia . The Marines then report to Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C. Assuming the Marines successfully complete all their schooling, they still must attain "Yankee White" security clearance. Only then will the Marines be eligible for the assignment at Camp David. After 12 months of service at Camp David, a Marine is awarded the Presidential Service Badge . Typically tours at Camp David are 18-24 months.

ï¿½ President Carter described the retreat: Camp David is trully beautiful, with the cottages (all named after trees) and paths snuggled on top and down one side of a small mountain and sheltered by a thick growth of stately oak, poplar, ash, locust, hickory, and maple trees. A security fence encompasses about 125 acres of rocky terrain, and the close proximity of the living quarters engenders an atmosphere of both isolation and intimacy, conducive to easing tension and encouraging informality. A few golf carts and bicycles were available, but most of the time people walked among the cottages and meeting places. To prove that there is no such thing as a secret a quick google search turned up the following information regarding many government compounds including Camp David: One article titled Bunkers Beyond the Beltway included: The federal government back-up system - The centralization of the federal government at Washington DC has its obvious drawbacks from a security standpoint.

Despite a reportedly extensive underground bunker network in the Capitol region (underground command centers with multiple levels have been built under the East Wing of the White House and under the Pentagon, for example), the federal government has maintained the strategy that, in the event of a truly serious situation, its best to head for the hills. Duplicating and securing the federal government beyond the beltway initiated an underground building boom that began in the 1950’s, and lead to the creation of almost a hundred "continuity of government" locations within the Federal Arc, a 300 mile radius around the capitol, according to published reports in the press.* These facilities were built to house representatives of nearly all the branches of government, in underground shelters, to sit out the fallout from a nuclear war, and to be able to continue the operations of a federal government once the bombardment stopped. As important as maintaining personnel to carry out the command of government, is the ability to know what is going on in the country and the world, and to be able to communicate, internally and externally. Therefore, a lot of the effort to build back-up systems for the federal government in the event of a nuclear war involved the creation of invulnerable communications systems.

Much of this infrastructure, built in the Cold War, is still in use today, with renewed importance in the terrorism era. Some of it is operated by the Defense department, some by secretive intelligence organizations, and some is operated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The two biggest and most important federal bunkers beyond the beltway are Mount Weather and Raven Rock, in Virginia and Pennsylvania, respectively. Site R, as Raven Rock is often called, is the alternate command center for the Pentagon. Mount Weather is the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s primary hub. Both have somewhere in the neighborhood of 600,000 to 700,000 square feet of underground space, though Raven Rock may be slightly larger. Together, these two facilities function as the main relocation sites for the highest level civilian and military officials, and what is called, seemingly interchangeably, the "Continuity of Government" and the "Continuity of Operations Plan" (COOP).

The present day version of this plan, when it is activated, as recent articles in national newspapers have claimed, calls for 75 to 100 government workers to be kept in one of two underground locations, briefed daily and prepared to take over if the active, elected government is wiped out. COOP was activated hours after the attacks on September 11, and since that time these unknown individuals have been serving in rotations lasting up to three months, in Raven Rock and Mount Weather. Raven Rock gets its name from the hill where it is located, a 650 surface acre site in southern Pennsylvania, next to the Maryland state line. It was first hollowed out in the early 1950’s, and went on line in 1954. Its officially stated function is as the Alternate Joint Communications Center, and a contingency relocation site for the Joint Staff Support Center, a division of the Pentagon. For much of the Cold War, Site R is said to have had a full-time staff of 350, including representatives of the major military departments and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, with space enough for an additional 2,600 people.

Site R was supported by nearby Fort Ritchie, Maryland, a 638 acre Army post, with over 2,000 employees, that closed in the 1990’s. It is now administered out of Fort Detrick, Maryland. The Defense Information Systems Agency, Western Hemisphere, a military division that calls itself the "Guardians of the Rock," operates the communication and command center located in the bunker. This is the underground site that is reportedly most favored by Vice President Dick Cheney. The other major Continuity of Operations Plan site is the Mount Weather complex, in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. While Site R is dominated by its role as a Department of Defense command facility, Mount Weather is a "civilian" command facility, the center of operations for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). For its FEMA role as the National Emergency Coordinating Center, it has extensive communication facilities that link it to the nationwide network of FEMA bunkers, relocation sites, and to the White House Situation Room.

Underground, there are sleeping accommodations for 2,000, including private sleeping quarters for the President, Cabinet, and the Supreme Court, as well as all the functions required to support large numbers of people underground for considerable periods, such as 500,000 gallons of water that are stored on site, a hospital and a crematorium. The blast door for the main tunnel portal weighs 34 tons and is 5 feet thick. On the surface, the site covers 434 acres, and has several large buildings, including conference and training buildings for FEMA. The government first used the site in 1903 as a weather station. Tunnel boring began in the 1950’s, by the Bureau of Mines and the Army Corps of Engineers, and cost as much as $1 billion in today’s dollars. The number of people on site fluctuates from a few hundred to over 1,000, depending on alert status.

The most famous of the federal "retreats" is Camp David, located in Catoctin Mountain Park, a National Park Service area near Thurmont, Maryland, and only a few miles from Site R, and the Federal Emergency Training Center in Emmitsburg. The rustic cabins at the camps have been replaced over the years with semi-rustic-looking bungalows that have the luxuries demanded of heads of state. Approximately 50 buildings are clustered around the highest point in the park, within a 125 acre fenced area, designated as Department of Defense property within the park. Reports about the extent of the underground bunkers at Camp David vary, but there is known to be an underground communications center and a VIP bomb shelter, constructed in 1959. Rumors abound about more extensive facilities, including a tunnel connecting Camp David to Site R. The surrounding park is open to the public, and has a few other "camps" with clusters of buildings, some clearly in use by military personnel, such as the sailors and marines that protect and maintain Camp David.

A few miles from Site R and Camp David, the National Emergency Training Center in Emmitsburg, Maryland, is a training campus for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The Center was established in 1979, at a 107 acre site originally occupied by St. Joseph’s College, a liberal arts college which closed in 1973. Classrooms and some field training facilities are located on site. The emphasis is training for civilian emergency professionals, such as fire fighters, and emergency response managers and coordinators. A sample of training course titles includes: "Advanced Radiological Accident Assessment - Post-Plume Phase," "Use of Auto-Injectors by Civilian Emergency Medical Personnel to Treat Civilians Exposed to Nerve Agent," and "Mass Fatalities Incident Course." Thousands are trained here every year, and an increase in terrorist related curricula is drawing more students from all over the country. Part of the communication infrastructure designed to support the federal government, is the mysterious and extensive complex known as the Warrenton Training Center (WTC), located in rural Virginia.

Warrenton’s, Station B, the largest of the four locations that make up the WTC, is a 346 acre communications center operated by the Defense Department, with underground bunkers, of unknown extent, for the protection of federal communications infrastructure and for the personnel assigned to protect it (and possibly for other purposes as well). Officially, WTC is administered by the Army to support the National Communications System, an entity established by President Kennedy, that is mandated to provide communications for the federal government, under any circumstance, including those following an all-out nuclear attack. This infrastructure links all the federal emergency bunkers, and provides service for most of the major federal governmental departments, from Agriculture and Energy, to Defense and the NSA. Little is officially released about the function of WTC, though the Federation of American Scientists states that "there are a large number of multi-story buildings" at Station B, "including a number of buildings constructed in the late 1980’s." Warrenton, Station A is an administrative, training, and residential compound, located close to the town of Warrenton. There are numerous buildings on site, from residences to brick office-type buildings.

Station C and D are more remote, and seem to be primarily vast antenna sites. At least one of the two are suspected to have other functions as well, including as "numbers stations" for the CIA, transmitting coded signals for the federal intelligence gathering infrastructure. The Olney Federal Support Center, near Laytonville, Maryland, is a communications and data network site, with known and unknown functions. Located at a former Nike missile base, this location consists of a vast field of antennas, with several surface buildings. It is next to a National Guard detachment, and a large landfill, which has helped fuel suspicions that extensive digging has taken place at the site (the disposal of the dirt from secret subterranean excavation projects is always an issue for the builders of these sites, according to some underground researchers). It is known to be part of FEMA’s National Radio System, a high-frequency radio network that links FEMA’s emergency operations centers. Rumors about multiple levels underground have been circulated primarily by UFOlogists and conspiracy theorists. A number of the original continuity of government sites were closed in the 1990’s.

The most well known of these secret bunkers was code-named Casper, and was kept prepared for congressional members (most of whom were unaware of its existence). This 112,000 square foot bunker, 64 feet underneath the posh Greenbriar Resort in West Virginia, opened in 1962. It had dining facilities (with landscapes painted behind fake windows), a hospital, beds for up to 1,000 people, and separate chambers for the House and the Senate. As recently as 1992 it was staffed by a crew, masquerading as a television repair company, which even kept a current supply of the prescription drugs used by the individual members of Congress, in case the site was activated, according to a CBS news story on the bunker that aired after it was officially decommissioned in 1995. Mount Pony is another major underground federal bunker which is no longer in use as part of the continuity of government plan. This 140,000 square foot, hardened underground complex, near Culpeper, Virginia, opened in 1969, and was used until 1992 by the U. S.

Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve. Until 1988, over a billion dollars in currency was stored here to resupply the nation in the event of a devastating nuclear attack, much of it in the form of two dollar bills. For many years it was also the location of the Culpeper Switch, the principal hub of the Federal Reserve’s 40,000 mile secure communications system, that routed the trillions of dollars that pass through the Feds electronic systems annually. (The Federal Reserve is said to have had bunkers for nine of the system’s 12 regional branches, including a 44,000 square foot bunker in western Massachusetts that served the Boston Federal Reserve Bank, acquired in 1992 by Amherst College.) Until 1992, as a government relocation center, the Mount Pony facility had a regular staff of 100 on hand to care for selected government officials who would flee to the site in the event of nuclear war. In 1997, the site was transferred to the Library of Congress for use as an archival storage facility called the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center, scheduled to open in 2005.

While many of the continuity of government sites established during the Cold War were designed for existing departments and divisions of the federal government (Congress, Treasury, the Supreme Court, etc.), some facilities housed new and lesser known federal entities, that would gain importance in the event of an emergency, such as a nuclear war. A now unoccupied bunker below the basement of the Lewis Hall of Science at Western Maryland College is an interesting case in point. This 6,000 square foot chamber, accessed by elevator, and equipped with a broadcast facility connected to FEMA’s communications infrastructure, was for the leaders of the United State Office of Censorship, later renamed the Wartime Information Security Program. In the event of a war, a group of eight appointed individuals, and a staff of 40, were to convene at this location to assume their duties leading the national censorship of news broadcast and print media, according to federally mandated emergency guidelines, listed in manuals and code books stored in the bunker. One of the directors of this program was the Vice-President of CBS. In a society such as ours, it is common to have murky alliances between the federal government and private companies that manage systems critical to defense and commerce.

Corporations such as AT&T, for example, have continuity of operations plans and underground back up control centers of their own. If the variety and extent of known underground facilities maintained by the federal government in the Federal Arc is any indication of the pervasiveness of this form of architecture, an inventory of America’s underground spaces would be nearly impossible to compile. The depth and breadth of this subsurface layer of the built landscape will most likely remain obscure, as it was intended to be. History History Ombudsman History In the months following America’s entry into World War II, officials in Washington, urged by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, searched the countryside surrounding Washington for an area that would be suitable for the President to use as a retreat. In 1942, President Roosevelt selected Camp Hi-Catoctin as the site for his retreat. Construction was completed by the summer and the President first used the facility in July 1942. President Roosevelt named the camp “Shangri-La” after the fictional utopia in James Hilton’s novel “Lost Horizon.” President Roosevelt visited Shangri-La frequently and hosted the first Head of State visit with Winston Churchill to discuss the war efforts.

During the Roosevelt administration, Sailors from the crews of the President yachts staffed Shangri-La. Support personnel such as telephone operators, stewards, cooks and security forces would precede each visit and remain on camp. In 1952, after President Truman decommissioned the President yachts, the Naval Administrative Unit took control of Shangri-La. In the early 1950’s, the first Navy Seabees were assigned to Shangri-La. Builders, utilitiesmen and construction electricians took over routine maintenance and repairs. Although there have been vast improvements made at the Camp over the years, Navy Seabees continue to maintain the electrical and utility systems, perform other craftsman duties and keep the grounds in an impeccable condition. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who continued to use the Catoctin Mountain retreat, renamed Shangri-La “Camp David” after his grandson, David Eisenhower. Throughout the 1950’s and early 1960’s, more Navy billets were added. Storekeepers, commissary men, and yeomen were assigned to handle routine supply and administrative functions. A barber and laundryman were added to support personnel.

Navy hospital corpsmen were assigned to handle routine and emergency medical needs. During President John F. Kennedy’s administration, Naval Support Facility Thurmont offered the First Family the opportunity to ride horses and walk through the scenic outdoors. President Lyndon Johnson used NSF Thurmont for conferences and meetings with foreign leaders. President Richard Nixon, who frequented NSF Thurmont with his family, held several national and internationally significant conferences at Camp, including the June 1973 visit of Soviet Union Secretary General Brezhnev. President Carter and his family also frequented the Camp, and held a now-famous meeting here. During February 1978, he invited Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. During their stay, he helped negotiate a peace between Egypt and Israel, which later became known as the Camp David Accords. More than 50 years later, the Accords are still in place. During President Ronald Regan’s administration, he and his wife frequented NSF Thurmont, where he hosted many of his weekly radio broadcasts. President George H.W. Bush, who had been previously-invited to Camp as Vice President, continued to enjoy time with his family at NSF Thurmont during his administration.

President Bill Clinton both visited the camp with his family and continued the tradition of gathering Middle East leaders for conferences at NSF Thurmont. President George W. Bush, who had visited NSF Thurmont during his father’s administration, had a special affinity for Camp. President Bush invited leaders from Great Britain, France, Italy, Egypt, Japan, Spain, Brazil, Denmark United Arab Emirates and Pakistan as guests to this unique location. NSF Thurmont continues to play a prominent and essential role in meeting the challenges of the Presidential mission and provides an environment of safety for the President, First Family and their guests. Camp David C Camp David Naval Support Facility Thurmont, popularly known as Camp David, is a mountain based military camp in Frederick County, Maryland used as a country retreat and for high alert protection of the President of the United States and his guests. First known as Hi-Catoctin, Camp David was originally built as a camp for federal government agents and their families, by the WPA, starting in 1935, opening in 1938. In 1942 it was converted to a presidential retreat by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and renamed U.S.S. Shangri-La .

Camp David received its present name from Dwight Eisenhower , in honor of his grandson, Dwight David Eisenhower II. The camp is very isolated and quiet. The compound consists of several cabins hidden throughout the woods, connected only by both small mulch and paved walking paths. These cabins are all named after various trees, plants, and flowers. There is only one main road on the compound, essentially cutting the camp in two parts: one side in which the Marines live (the other branches live off-camp), eat and train; and the other side consisting of all the guest cabins and presidential recreational facilities. Navy operations Camp David is a United States Navy installation, commanded by a Naval Commander. Sailors are mostly Seabees and most officers are in the civil engineering field. The Navy Seabee Detachment performs maintenance and beautification. The sailors must undergo a "Yankee White" level background check, which involves passing the most rigorous background check conducted by the Department of Defense (DOD). The sailors are hand-picked for their service at Camp David, and are among the best of the U.S. Navy.

Some of the sailors include: grounds and maintenance personnel, electricians, carpenters, corpsmen, and the President's cooks (culinary specialists). The Camp is alleged to be one of the most secure facilities in the world, as reported by a Department of Defense journal in 1998. The facility is guarded by one of the United States Marine Corps' most elite units, MSC-CD (Marine Security Company, Camp David). Each Marine is hand-picked from the infantry field and sent through a battery of psychological and physical tests. Selected Marines must then undergo specialized security training at the Marine Corps Security Forces School in Chesapeake, Virginia. The candidates then report to the Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C., where they provide protection for the barracks, the Commandant of the Marine Corps and the Chief of Naval Operations. Assuming a Marine successfully completes his "pre-assignment" in Washington, they still must undergo the "Yankee White" background check. Only then is the candidate eligible for assignment to Camp David. After twelve months of service at Camp David, a Marine is awarded the Presidential Service Badge. Tours of duty at Camp David typically last for 18 months.

Presidential use Every president since Franklin Roosevelt has made use of Camp David. Roosevelt hosted Sir Winston Churchill in May 1943. Dwight Eisenhower held the first cabinet meeting there. John F. Kennedy and his family often enjoyed horseback riding and other recreational activities. Kennedy often allowed White House staff and cabinet members to use the retreat when he or his family was not there. Lyndon Johnson often met with important advisors at the retreat and hosted Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt. Richard Nixon was a frequent visitor and did much to add and modernize the facilities. Gerald Ford often rode his snowmobile around Camp David and hosted Indonesia President Suharto. Jimmy Carter brokered the Camp David Accords here in September 1978 between Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin . Ronald Reagan visited the retreat more than any other president. Dorothy Bush Koch, the daughter of George H.W. Bush was the first person ever to be married there in 1992. Bill Clinton increasingly used Camp David more as his tenure in office progressed, and hosted Great Britain Prime Minister Tony Blair on several occassions in addition to numerous celebrities. George W.

Bush hosted dignitaries including British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in 2007. Analogous facilities Analogous facilities include: Residences of Queen Elizabeth II: Windsor Castle, official country and weekend residence. Sandringham House, private country residence. Balmoral Castle , private country residence in Scotland . Chequers, country residence of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The Retreat Building, the official Retreat Residence of the President of India. Harpsund, country residence of the Prime Minister of Sweden Harrington Lake, country residence of the Prime Minister of Canada Marienborg, summer residence of the Prime Minister of Denmark Kultaranta, summer residence of the President of Finland Lohn, country estate of the Swiss Federal Council outside Bern . Mansion House, summer residence of the President of the Philippines Palacio de Marivent, summer residence of the King of Spain in Palma de Mallorca.

Hacienda Hato Grande, country residence of the President of Colombia Pavillon de la Lanterne (subsidiary structure of the Palace of Versailles), country residence of the President of France, Fort de Brégançon, summer residence, Chateau de Rambouillet, guest residence, Domaine National de Marly and Domaine de Souzy-la-Biche, weekend residences Isla La Orchila, Naval Facility with Presidential Residence, President of Venezuela the Papal Residence at Castel Gandolfo, summer residence of the Pope Granja do Torto, country residence of the President of Brazil Novo-Ogaryovo and Zavidovo, country residences of the President of Russia. The Lodge is the official residence and Kirribilli House is the harbour side residence of the Australian Prime Minister in Sydney. Camp David Presidential Retreat: Book, Clinton, Carter, Eisenhower, History (1998) - YouTube Camp David Presidential Retreat: Book, Clinton, Carter, Eisenhower, History (1998) Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now.

Please try again later. Published on Aug 24, 2015 Camp David is the country retreat of the President of the United States. It is located in wooded hills about 62 miles (100 km) north-northwest of Washington, D.C., in Catoctin Mountain Park near Thurmont, Maryland. It is officially known as Naval Support Facility Thurmont and because it is technically a military installation, staffing is primarily provided by the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps. First known as Hi-Catoctin, Camp David was built as a camp for federal government agents and their families by the WPA. Construction started in 1935 and was completed in 1938.[4] In 1942, Franklin D. Roosevelt converted it to a presidential retreat and renamed it "Shangri-La" (for the fictional Himalayan paradise). Camp David received its present name from Dwight D. Eisenhower, in honor of his father and grandson, both named David. Camp David is not open to the public, and Catoctin Mountain Park does not indicate the location of Camp David on park maps due to privacy and security concerns.

Every president since Franklin D. Roosevelt has made use of Camp David. Roosevelt hosted Sir Winston Churchill in May 1943.[6] Dwight D. Eisenhower held his first cabinet meeting there on November 22, 1955 following hospitalization and convalescence required after a heart attack suffered in Denver, Colorado on September 24.[7] John F. Kennedy and his family often enjoyed riding and other recreational activities there, and Kennedy often allowed White House staff and cabinet members to use the retreat when he or his family were not there. Lyndon B. Johnson met with advisors in this setting and hosted both Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt and Canadian Prime minister Lester B. Pearson there. Richard Nixon was a frequent visitor and did much to add to and modernize the facilities. Gerald Ford often rode his snowmobile around Camp David and hosted Indonesian President Suharto there.[8] Jimmy Carter brokered the Camp David Accords there in September 1978 between Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin.[6] Ronald Reagan visited the retreat more than any other president.

In 1984, Reagan hosted British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.[9] George H. W. Bush's daughter, Dorothy Bush Koch, was married there in 1992, in the first ever wedding held at Camp David.[citation needed] Bill Clinton used Camp David more as his tenure in office progressed and hosted the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, on several occasions in addition to numerous celebrities. George W. Bush hosted dignitaries, including President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, there in 2003.[10][11] and hosted British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, in 2007.[12] George W. Bush also hosted Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen in June 2006.[13] Barack Obama chose Camp David to host the 38th G8 summit in 2012.[14] President Obama also hosted Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev at Camp David.[15] Barack Obama hosted the GCC Summit at Camp David in 2015. On July 2, 2011, an F-15 intercepted a small two-seat passenger plane flying near Camp David, when President Obama was in residence.

The civilian aircraft, which was out of radio communication, was intercepted approximately 6 miles (10 km) from the presidential retreat. The F-15 escorted the aircraft out of the area, and it landed in nearby Hagerstown, Maryland, without incident. The civilian plane's occupants were flying between two Maryland towns and were released without charge.[17] On July 10, 2011, an F-15 intercepted another small two-seat passenger plane flying near Camp David when President Barack Obama was again in residence; a total of three planes were intercepted over this July 9 weekend. Admiralty House, official Sydney residence of the Governor-General of Australia Beidaihe, used as a seaside retreat by senior officials of the Communist Party of China until 2004 Blair House, another official White House lodging for guests Camp Misty Mount Historic District and Camp Greentop Historic District, built at the same time in Catoctin Mountain Park as Camps 1 and 2.

Chequers, the country retreat of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Chigi Palace, official residence of the Prime Minister of Italy Harpsund, official country residence for the Prime Minister of Sweden Harrington Lake, official country retreat for the Prime Minister of Canada Kirribilli House, official Sydney residence of the Prime Minister of Australia

Question: Naval Support Facility Thurmont, in rural Maryland, is a presidential retreat known as what?
Answer: Camp David